Impartido por:

Gary Burton

Transcripción

The topic today is scales, specifically what we call chord scales in the jazz world. And, if you've looked at some books on improvisation you might have come across some that included page after page after page of scales with exotic sounding names. the truth is, there is a small number of scales that cover most situations. there are ten of them, in fact, that are the most commonly used scales. And 90% of the chords and scales that you come across in a tune, a standard tune or a jazz tune will use one of those ten scales. So, they're the ones that you really need to have under your fingers, that you have to have memorized and are able to play on them. And we're going to look at each of those ten scales today, and what their characteristics are and how to organize them and think of them. And how to practice them. The goal is to have them memorized to the point that you have instant recall. Now you probably already have instant recall on a few scales. Let's say the C scale ♪ [MUSIC] ♪, that's one that, you know, you surely have played by now. And you don't have to stop and think what the notes are in that scale as you play it on your instrument you're just used to playing it. Well, here's the thing. We can memorize scales in two ways. There are two characteristics that our memory uses. One is the shape that the scale makes in terms of the pattern. for instance if I play a ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ that minor, that C minor scale there's a certain shape to it. And it doesn't matter whether you play a keyboard instrument like mine, or the piano. But on any instrument, there's kind of a, a kind of a shape and pattern to a scale run. And we get used to recognizing that shape. And we also recognize the sound of it when we hear it. when it, you know, we associate the sound and the shape of the scale and that's what allows us to have instant recall of it. And, you know, the, the, the situation is, you don't have time to think about the mechanics of the scale when you're in the act of playing. Chords change every couple of seconds there is not time for conscious, you know, study of arguing with yourself about can I use the B flat or not and so on. I mean, if you have to think at all about the scale as you're playing, you won't be able to keep up with the music. We have to have instant recall. So that's the goal is to get instant recall. And the way we practice the scales is what will help us attain that level of recall. Now, in the classical world, ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ the way you practice scales is usually going up and down. But that's not much help to a jazz musician, to an improvisor. We need to make melodies out of that scale. ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ Which means moving to different intervals, and different groupings of notes within that scale. So we want to have flexibility, and be, be very facile with the notes in the scale. So instead of practicing ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ the classical way with the scale we want to ♪ [MUSIC] ♪, we want to change the intervals. Use most of the range of your instrument. Don't do it all within one octave. ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ So you can see I'm rambling around. I'm not playing any particular pattern or any combination. I'm thinking in my mind and using my eyes. And I'm seeing the shape of the scale, the C Minor scale, called the Dorian. We're going to talk about the names later. And I'm using different combinations of notes from that scale ♪ [MUSIC] ♪. Immersing my eyes and my ears. I'm getting used to the sound of this scale. And, and eventually I recognize it so well that the minute I see on the music C minor 7 is called for, but without even having to think about the notes in the scale, I can just start playing on it. That's the instant recall that we're looking for.